Chronology of tectonic, geomorphic, and volcanic interactions and the tempo of fault slip near Little Lake, California

New geochronologic and geomorphic constraints
\non the Little Lake fault in the Eastern
\nCalifornia shear zone reveal steady, modest
\nrates of dextral slip during and since the midto-
\nlate Pleistocene. We focus on a suite of offset
\nfl uvial landforms in the Pleistocene Owens
\nRiver channel that formed in response to
\nperi odic interaction with nearby basalt fl ows,
\nthereby recording displacement over multiple
\ntime intervals. Overlap between 40Ar/39Ar
\nages for the youngest intracanyon basalt fl ow
\nand 10Be surface exposure dating of downstream
\nterrace surfaces suggests widespread
\nchannel incision during a prominent outburst
\nfl ood through the Little Lake channel at ca.
\n64 ka. Older basalt fl ows fl anking the upper
\nand lower canyon margins indicate localization
\nof the Owens River in its current position
\nbetween 212 ± 14 and 197 ± 11 ka. Coupled
\nwith terrestrial light detection and ranging
\n(lidar) and digital topographic measurements
\nof dextral offset, the revised Little Lake chronology
\nindicates average dextral slip rates of
\nat least ~0.6–0.7 mm/yr and <1.3 mm/yr over
\nintervals ranging from ~104 to 105 yr. Despite
\nprevious geodetic observations of relatively
\nrapid interseismic strain along the Little
\nLake fault, we fi nd no evidence for sustained
\ntemporal fl uctuations in slip rates over multiple
\nearthquake cycles. Instead, our results
\nindicate that accelerated fault loading may be
\ntransient over much shorter periods (~101 yr)
\nand perhaps indicative of time-dependent
\nseismic hazard associated with Eastern California
\nshear zone faults.